Men’s cross country places second at JK Gold Classic to open its season

The K-State men's cross country team following two Wichita State runners during the J.K. Gold Classic in Augusta, KS on Sept. 1, 2018. (Alex Todd | Collegian Media Group)

The 2019 season is underway for the Kansas State cross country teams with a second-place finish by the men’s team at the JK Gold Classic in Wichita over the weekend.

At the Four Mile Creek Resort, freshman Jack Thomas led all Wildcat runners at the meet. Thomas placed sixth with a time of 18:51.6 in the 6-kilometer race.

K-State competed against 15 other schools on Saturday, finishing with 47 points. In 2018, the men’s team won the meet with 25 points.

Finishing out in the top 10 in the 6-kilometer race, redshirt freshman Kerby Depenbusch ran the race in 19:14.4. Junior Noah Stevenson came in 11th in 19:16.2. Freshman Jack Moore, also just outside the top 10, ran it in 19:17.2 to place 12th overall.

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Setting a personal best in the race, senior Keegan Donahue had a time of 19:50.7 finishing 19th, which was a time improvement of over two minutes. The last runner to place in the top-25 was sophomore Mike Rohlinger who finished 21st at 20:01.9.

The last Wildcats for the men’s team were juniors Travis Hodge (36th, 20:42.1) and Pierce Flanders (103rd, 22:39.3).

Wichita State ended up winning the meet with 16 points, keeping K-State from winning the JK Gold Classic in back-to-back years.

The women’s team had injuries preventing them from running everyone at this meet.

Sophomore Cayli Hume recorded a time of 15:01.1 good enough for 12th overall. Freshmen Sydney Burton and Julia Larkin competed in their first races for K-State. Burton finished 32nd at 15:54.1 and Larkin came in 61st at 16.52.1.

The Wildcats cross country teams will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska to compete in the Jay Dirksen Invitational on Sept. 21.

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